Improvement in raflroad coupling-chairs



UNITED STATES BARZILLAI e. SMITH. or BuRLrNe'roN, Nnw teaser.

MPRQVEMENT IN RAlLROAD CQUPLlNG-CHAIRS.

Specification forming part of" Letters Patent No. 33,404, dated October l, 186i.

.To LZ'Z whom, it may concern.:

Be it known that l, BARZILLAI C. SMITH, of Burlington, Burlington county, New Jersey, have invented a ner and useful Improvement in RaiLCoupling Chairs andIdo herebyvrde clare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, refcrencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letarranged, secured together, and adapted to each other and to the rails, substantially as described hereinafter, so as' to form a coupling-chair for securely confining and affording a firm foundation for the ends f the rails, and' at the same time alording greater facilities for laying, removing, and replacing the rails than cast-iron chairs of ordinary construction.

-ln .order to enable others skilled in the art to'make and use myinvent-ion, I will now pro- (feed to describe the manner in which it is g eons'tructedval/id applied.

()n reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure. l. is a sectional view of my improved rail-couplingA chair; Fig. 2, a ground plan; Fig. 3,-t`l1e same with the rails and part of the chair removed; and Fig. 4, a sectional view on the line l EZ, Fig. l.

Sinrilarletters referto si mil-ar parts th roughout the several views.

A and A represent the ends ot two ad joining rails which rest on andare secured in their proper position by my improved chair, the main bodyof which consists of the plate B, thelatterhavin g at each corner a suitable hole for receiving the spikes by which the chair is secured to the sills or sleepers.

From the plate ll proyccts the inclined rib (T, the upper edge of which is arranged to bear against the portion I of the rails, the

lower iiange c ofthe latter fitting snugly-into a recess 'formed in the inside of the inclined rib at the point where the said rib meets the plato li. An oblong recess d is form'cdin this plate ll .fortbc reception of the horizon- 'tal poi-tion of the plate l), which has an inclined rib similar t-o-that ou the plato Il, the

upperA edge of the said rib bearing against the portion bof the rail and the insideof therib being soformed as to fit on the top and against theiedge of the ilanges c of the rails.

It will be'observedthat the inner edge ot `the horizontal portion of the plate D has a projecting flange or rib e fitting :snugly into a recess formed in the plate B, so thatwhen the two plates are fitted together, as seen iu Fig. Vl, the plate D can have no lateral or vertical movement independentlyY of the plate B. The former plate, however, can be slid in its recess d from and toward the rails after removal of the key E, which is of the wedge form represented in Fig. 2, the bottom of t-he key resting partly on the plate ll and partlyon theplate D, one edge-ot the key bearing against the lower portion of the inclined rib of the plate D and the opposite edge bearing against the lugs E, one of which is east to the plate B on each side of the recess d.

In .order that the key may be maintained in its proper vertical position, it is furnished on'one end with a rib or flangej', fitting snugly into a recess formed in the plate-D at the point where the horizontal portion and the inclined rib ofthe said plate meet each other, the opposite edge of the key beingbeveled, so as tol [it the beveled edge of the lugs F F.

Although I prefer the key E as a means ot' securing the plates together, it may be dispensed with and thevplates connected to each other by means of bolts in m, (shown in dot-ted lines, Figs. i and 2,) each bolt passing through a lug at, icast on' the plate D, and through another lug y on the plate ll, or, should g reat-er `se" curity berequired,.both the key and thebolts` may be used. l It will be seen that in seeurng'ihe two platos together thou-nils are so iirmly gripped at the points h and D', as well as at the lower flanges c and c', that the ends of the rails become, as it were, a part of the chair.

0n removing the fastenings the plate I) mayA be slid out 'free from the rails, which maythen .by a lateral movement be drawn away vclear of the chair.y

It will be evident, therefore, that myimproved chair affords greater facilities for readily laying, removing, and replacing the rails on the track than the ordinary chairs,A which are east in one piece and to which the ends of the mils have to be fitted hy sliding them endwise inlothe chamber formed for l, with its rib C, and the slidinY plate 1),

with a corresponding rib, when thotwo plates nre constructed, arranged, and secured togethernnd adapted to each other und to the I rails, snlistnntinlly :is :nml For l'he purpose herein set forth. v

ln testimony whereof l have signed 'my j mime io this specification in the presence of l two Subscribing witneses. l h, 5; SMITH. l 

